Hidden Brotherhood
by Dr Pepper and Ice Cream
Summary: Movieverse: Things are finally settling down for the Autobots. Their comrades are sending messages that they're coming to Earth! But what of that one message kindly telling 'em to, "Slag off!"? A trip to New York for starters...
1. When We Said No We Meant It

"With the All Spark gone we cannot return life to our planet. And fate has yielded its reward, a new world to call home. We live among its people now hiding in plain sight, but watching over them in secret, waiting, protecting. I have witnessed their courage, and though we are worlds apart, like us, there is more to them than meets the eye. I am Optimus Prime and I send this message to any surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars. We are here. We are waiting."

The message from Optimus Prime scattered throughout the universe. It bounced off of asteroids and was lost in some of the gases planets excreted from their surface. However far the message went, it was not sent in vain. It reached many friendly receptors as well as some that would love nothing more than tear the Autobot leader apart. It also reached some who had no affinity for the war, however, a new home seemed awfully appealing compared to the war havocked and now dead Cybertron. It was only a matter of time before many turned their paths towards the little Milky Way galaxy and from there, the solar system containing the new planet, the new war zone, the new home.

Earth.

* * *

Ratchet blearily entered his med bay, the doors hissing behind him. His large feet were oddly quiet as they paced across the metal floor to his desk. Easing down on a Cybertronian sized chair, Ratchet let out a hiss as his hydraulics whined from overuse. Leaning forward over his desk, he rested his head in his hand and mused over the latest proceedings at the new Autobot base. It was not far from Hoover Dam and the United States government helped out as much as they could. Altering an old air base for the transformers was not easy, but proved satisfying results. Ratchet moved a finger along his optic ridge as he remembered how hard his own med bay had been to convert from one of the empty hangers. Shifting his shoulders slightly, he was beginning to regret throwing everyone out when they couldn't comply with his demands for the med bay. The medic had ended up doing over the entire building alone, only having Ironhide coming to help him move things he alone could not budge.

Ratchet rotated the shoulder he was not leaning his weight on and jumped as it made an awful grinding sound. Sure the med bay was almost perfect to his standards but the toll it had taken on his body was proving it may not have been worth working alone. Offlining his optics, he leaned backwards and continued brooding. Several Autobots had responded to the message in a timely manner and were to be landing within the next few days. Other Autobots had sent in weak signals stating they were damaged, but headed to Earth with all due haste. More disturbing yet, several unknown signals had blasted through the Autobots command center stating very clearly that they were to be left alone if the Autobots knew what was good for them.

The few Autobots landing soon identified themselves as Prowl the so-logical-it-made-your-CPU-hurt-if-you-tried-keeping-up tactician, Arcee the lithe sniper femme, Bluestreak a young gunner and damn good at it, and the egotistical twins Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. Ratchet remembered groaning when hearing the twins were coming to Earth. However, they seemed pretty willing to behave so long as they could get repairs. Apparently they got into a losing fight with an asteroid field over by the Horse Head Nebula. One of Ratchet's fingers twitched, tapping along the armrest with unease. They had yet to hear what happened to the Decepticons or Starscream. Hearing a hiss from the med bay doors, Ratchet onlined his optics and threw a disapproving look at whoever dared enter his domain. His face plates moved to a softer expression when he saw it was only Bumblebee and his human charge, Sam. Offlining his optics again, Ratchet leaned further back with a groan as his joints prickled with pain.

"What did Sam do to hurt himself this time?" Ratchet asked pointedly, fatigue hanging from his vocal processors. He heard Bumblebee give a sharp laugh and Sam on the offensive about not causing self-injuries. Waving a hand lazily, he onlined his weary optics once more.

"Then what is it you two need? You don't seem to be in any danger nor do you seem to be injured," Ratchet said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. The scout shifted from foot to foot nervously as he spoke.

"We just wanted to make sure that you were alright. Ironhide said he saw you limping away earlier and we were worried," Bumblebee said quickly, his voice processor still raspy from disuse for several decades. The human charge in his hand quickly picked up where his guardian left off.

"That and everyone is amazed at how fast you put together this place," Sam said swinging his arm around, indicating the med bay. Ratchet's optics fluttered around the room before returning back to the pair. Sam rambled on.

"And everyone kinda seems worried at how you're doing. You take care of everyone else so well, just, kinda seems not fair if you aren't being taken care…of…either." He nervously fiddled with the hem of his shirt, watching the CMO. A faceplate twitched on Ratchet in amusement as he tried to hide a smile. Those two…

"Yes, I will be operating at maximum efficiency after a long recharge. Some oil for the joints wouldn't hurt though," he muttered the last bit, crossing his arms across his broad chest. He noted that Bumblebee and Sam exchanged looks before turning their attention back to him.

"If you want…"

"We could probably find a barrel of oil or something…"

"I am certain there are a few barrels in the storage unit…"

"Yeah, we could bring you one or two…"

"If you wanted…"

"Yeah…"

Ratchet watched the two in quiet amusement as they twitched with nervousness. Finally giving them a smile he sat up and laid his arms on his desk for support. "A barrel would be greatly appreciated. Thank you," he muttered out, trying to ignore the pain that was in his shoulder again. The scout and human perked up considerably and took off, chattering to each other as the door hissed with their exit. Letting out a long gust through his cooling systems, he placed a hand on his shoulder plates. He must have gnashed something while moving the medical berths around. Frowning, he rotated his arm and noted with the pressure of his hand the grinding sound was worse. If only Wheeljack or someone else was there to double check that for him. Letting out an irritated growl, he leaned back again and offlined his optics. Wheeljack was one of the few that Ratchet was surprised didn't report in. Either the scientist was too far away or he was so badly injured he couldn't respond. Ratchet mentally kicked himself for the last part. Wheeljack could take care of himself, there was no need for excess worry. The CMO would have enough of that when the twins came in the med bay.

The roar of an engine came through from the other side of the door, causing Ratchet to online his optics once again. The door hissed as a yellow Camaro came through carefully not to upset its cargo. Sam stood on the roof haphazardly, keeping both hands on a large barrel that rested on the car's trunk. It threatened to fall off to either side as the car moved forward. Ratchet sat up interested as Sam yelled at the car for help. The engine revved, only causing more frustration to the human teenager. The barrel seemed to be precariously close to the car's side and the medic could see the fear Sam's body shook with. Suddenly standing up, Ratchet took a few steps from behind his desk and grabbed the barrel before it fell to the floor. That would make a horrible mess he'd have to clean up later if it fell. Setting the oil barrel on his desk, Ratchet heard the whirrs and clicks as the scout turned into his bipedal form, Sam shouting at him weakly from the ground. The medic shook his head and turned slightly to watch the two in an ever growing feeling of irritation. Letting out a fake cough, he caught the two's attention abruptly putting the argument on hiatus.

"Thank you, Bee. Sam. You can both go now and do whatever havoc you were doing before coming to aid me," Ratchet said smoothly, trying to hide the fact that the two were beginning to get on his nerves. As kind of intentions the two had, Ratchet needed to be alone to 'lick his wounds' in human terms. Sam smiled and placed a hand on his hip as Bumblebee chirped happily. Ratchet waved them off and turned back to his desk to study the oil. Hearing the doors hiss and the pair's voices fade, Ratchet reached over his desk and pulled open a drawer. Grabbing a rag from the top, he ignored closing it for now and went to work on getting the barrel open to retrieve the oil. After a few minutes he got the lid pried open. He stuck the rag in the barrel and back to his shoulder. Squeezing the oil out of the rag, he gingerly rotated his shoulder as the oil worked its way around the joint.

Offlining his optics from the pure feeling of relief, Ratchet continued swinging his arm around. He repeated the process a few more times before sitting down behind the desk and started on his knee hydraulics. His CPU didn't wander much as he worked on his task, the feeling of relief was enough to keep him busy. Once he deemed his joints as lubricated as they could get, he stuffed the rag back into the open drawer and shut it with a snap. He eyed the open barrel warily, trying to decide what to do with it. Turning from it, Ratchet decided to leave it alone for now and think about something else.

That one message stating the Autobots should mind their own business was bugging him. It had been encrypted and rather than a voice on the other end it was a bunch of Cybertronian letters. Whoever had sent it did _not_ want to be figured out by the Autobots. Scrunching his faceplates up he stood up and walked to a berth, full intent to stretch out upon it. Maybe it was the Decipticons. But, why would they contact them in such an odd manner? Easing down on the berth, Ratchet laid on his front resting his chin on his arms. He would bring the matter up with Optimus tomorrow. Generally his suspicions were correct and he was afraid of what manner of chaos this one would bring. Easing into recharge, Ratchet put the thought back into his CPU for another day.

* * *

Bumblebee laughed as Sam insisted upon his point. The teen continued on with his ramblings, taking in all of the walls as he unveiled his plan to the scout, his arms flailing with emotion and emphasis.

"Yeah yeah, all we need is enough wax to cover it! Then, then…We put a camera up there and get blackmail on all who dare cross this hall!" He slammed his fist into an open palm, and immediately regretted the action. His hand was stinging from the impact. He didn't mean to hit that hard. Turning, Sam looked at Bumblebee as the scout shook his head.

"You're ignorant of my genius," Sam said pouting. This caused the yellow transformer to laugh harder.

"Whaat?" Sam whined throwing his arms down in the scout's palm and leaned his weight on them. Bumblebee stopped as he regained his composure, though his door wings were still fluttering occasionally.

"Anyone entering the hall would be smart enough to turn around and take a different route. Besides that, we'd take all the blame and we'd have to clean it all up. Especially since Sunstreaker and Sideswipe aren't here to lay the blame on," Bumblebee said with mirth. Sam frowned and muttered an, "Oh yeah." Letting out a short laugh, the scout continued forward to the communications room. It was the place to be until more Autobots showed up and the recreation room was more fun to be in. Bumblebee placed Sam on a console as he himself sat down on a stool. Spinning it around to look at one of the many screens, Bumblebee tapped a few codes on the console he placed Sam on and a screen at the front of the room sprang to life with a hum. Tapping a few more codes, Cybertronian letters danced across the screen at an alarming rate.

Sam learned to look away otherwise nausea would hit him as the letters swam in his vision. A few clicks and a map of earth came on screen. Several overlaying red dots, adding up to twenty total, showed up over North America, roughly along the east side of the continent close to the United States and Canada border. Bumblebee let out a whistle and a few clicks and tapped again on the console. The map zoomed in on the dots showing they were located over Vermont, New York, and the Canadian territory Quebec. The scout gave a confused sound, to which Sam turned around to look at the map too. Furrowing his brows, Sam pointed at the map. Looking back at Bumblebee, he dumbfoundedly said, "Aren't those planet dropping Transformers?"

Bumblebee nodded his head and gave a confused chirp. He tapped at the console again and the computer beeped at him. A red symbol came up next to the dots…An 'x'. Bumblebee gave a rather angry whirr before tapping again at the console. Sam wisely moved away from his guardians rapidly moving fingers. Again, another beep and another 'x'. A growl emitted from Bumblebee's vocal processers and Sam took a step back.

"So, what are they?" Sam asked timidly, a little upset at the sight of the usually happy scout who was now rather irritated and slightly angry.

"No clue, the slaggers keep blocking us out," Bumblebee said, frustration lining his voice. Sam tilted his head as the scout used a Cybertronian curse. He hardly ever cursed, even in human languages. Sam turned back to the screen as Bumblebee tapped out a few more codes and received another angry beep from the computer. Giving a harsh blast from his cooling units, Bumblebee flopped backwards. He forgot however, that there was no back to his seat. He flailed his arms around trying to gain balance but to no avail. His yellow bulk fell over backwards, leaving a guffawing Sam on the console. Muttering something in his native tongue, Bumblebee turned right-side-up and leaned over the stool. He tapped a few more things into the console, ignoring Sam who was clutching his sides for dear life. Cybertronian words dashed across the screen. Standing up, Bumblebee twitched his sore door wings and put his fists on his hips.

"Whoever they are, they're landing in a few hours."

* * *

Xx; Hopefully that wasn't too mangled to read. The transition between Ratchet to Bumblebee and Sam was hard to make. Anyone willing to throw out suggestions would be greatly appreciated. ONWARDS!! -points finger into air triumphantly-

Ratchet: I diagnose you insane... -slaps an INSANE stamp on authoress's head-

Awww, snap. D:

**Edited:** Changed the size of some of the chapters and paragraph breaks. X-X sorry to those early readers who had to suffer through the utterly _long_ paragraphs that came from hell.


	2. Three Days With Ratchet

Bumblebee stared at the screen with an unreadable expression on his metallic face. The screen taunted him. Sam stood on the console, watching with curiosity and concern. The scout shifted his weight a little before tapping on some keys, effectively turning off the main screen. He let out a soft blast from his cooling vents before offering his hand out for Sam to get on. The human jumped on without hesitation, though maybe he should of. An alarm went off, making Bumblebee jump and nearly dropping Sam in the process. The human clutched onto his guardian's digits in a death grip, his skin pale. Bumblebee chirped an apology before tapping the console again. Instead of a screen coming up, a metallic voice came over the internal comm. of the base chattering away in Cybertronian. Sam shook his head to rid any feeling of dizziness while Bumblebee devoted all of his attention to the comm. The voice stopped talking with a whirring beep just as the door hissed open, letting in an arguing Ironhide and Optimus Prime.

"If we leave now, we'll be able to find him as soon as he hits dirt!"

"The only problem with that is we only have a general location of where he will land, Ironhide. I'd rather not take the risk of being discovered while searching for Prowl."

Bumblebee stood silent as his elders stopped walking and faced each other off. Even though Ironhide was considerably shorter than the leader, he had a glare that could scare even Ratchet. Optimus shook his head and sat down on an actual chair before tapping on the console in front of him. Ironhide let out a blast from his cooling systems in frustration. Bumblebee wasn't even sure the weapons specialist had noted the scout and his charge. Ironhide had, however.

"If nothing else, Optimus, send Bee over there and scout stuff out! That's his job, scouting…Or have you got him too wrapped up running around the base like a organic pet that you've forgot what his job was?" A stunned quiet fell over the room from Ironhide's comment. Optimus looked at Ironhide quietly as the black mech fumed. Sam and Bumblebee fidgeted as one, they knew Ironhide was unruly but this was something else.

"I have not forgotten what Bumblebee's job is, Ironhide. I just do not think that it will be necessary to leave just yet until we know more of Prowl's location," Optimus said quietly, calmly. Ironhide gave a massive snort.

"And I'm saying that the sooner we've got _our_ afts over there to keep Deceptipunks off _his_ aft…The better."

"I appreciate the concern Ironhide, but.."

"But nothing, Optimus! I don't trust the quiet they've left us in!"

The two glared at each other, Optimus's patience was waning. A tapping sound was heard, it was Ironhide's large foot against the metal floor. They stayed like that until Ironhide gave a satisfied grunt and turned his back on his leader. Optimus watched his weapons officer carefully. Apparently the two had a private comm. on and had been arguing back and forth. Optimus turned back to the console and tapped a few keys.

"Be careful when you go in that med bay, Ratchet's been rather cranky lately," Optimus said with some humor in his voice, the previous argument forgotten. Ironhide barked out a laugh.

"As if I'd let that medic get the better of me! Alright, Bee…Get ready to take off towards Prowl's landing area as soon as I got Ratchet up and running around," he said turning to look at the scout.

"And no bringing Sam!"

Ironhide took out through the door, its hissing signifying Ironhide wanted no argument. Bumblebee and Sam shared a sad look before taking off through the door too. Sparing a glance at the Autobot leader, they left. Walking through the hallways to the rec. room, Sam and Bumblebee enjoyed their company in silence. It would probably be a few days before the scout would be back and it was the first time Sam wasn't coming along. Finally reaching the empty rec. room, Bumblebee dawdled over to a transformer sized couch. Sitting down, he let Sam out of his hand and beeped sadly. Sam furrowed his brow, thinking for a moment. Suddenly his expression was bright. He patted Bumblebee's arm to help cheer him up.

"Hey, come on. I'm sure you'll have fun seeing the scenery up there if nothing else!" Sam said helpfully. Bumblebee gave a sharp laugh, the antenna on his head dropped to his cranium tightly.

"Sam, I'm going up with Ratchet. You saw how he was earlier. Oh yes…Loads of fun with an angry and tired Ratchet yelling the entire way about 'scenery' hitting his alt form. Whoopie," Bumblebee said sarcastically as his shoulders slumped. Sam frowned. That idea backfired. He crossed his arms and leaned against Bumblebee's leg.

"Well, you're picking up Prowl…How's that?"

"Haha, wait till you meet him. You'll be singing a different tune about him after talking with him for a whole point five seconds."

"Geeze, pessimistic today? I'll be here when you get back," Sam said, trying to hide the fact he'd miss his car while it was gone playing retriever for the Autobots. The scout made a funny noise with his vocalizer, sounding like a mix of a shriek, a snort, and a laugh. Sam raised an eyebrow as Bumblebee picked him up.

"Don't get into too much trouble while I'm gone. And for Primus's sake, Sam, please do your school work."

"Ha! Don't I always?"

"The day before it's due."

"Well, ah...Snap."

Both turned as angry sirens went off in the hallway. They heard Ironhide and Ratchet before they saw them.

"YOU SLAGGING AFT FRAGGER!" Ratchet's voice boomed through the metal hallways. Sam raced backwards and hid against Bumblebee's side. Ironhide was just as loud.

"YOU'VE GOT A JOB TO DO, GLITCH HEAD!" Bumblebee shrank down onto the couch, trying to make his bright yellow bulk blend in as much as possible. A very loud and hollow 'CLANG' came from the hallway and an eerie silence followed afterwards. Bumblebee looked down at Sam, who gave him a worried glance. They turned back to the doorway as the sound of metal against metal could be heard. A rather peeved and recharge-deprived Ratchet came through the door, the emergency lights on his frame still going off out of anger. A groan came from the hallway followed by Ironhide.

"You stupid prick," the black mech muttered aggressively, rubbing a spot on his head. Ratchet continued forwards, headed towards the main doors. Not looking back at Ironhide, he spat out, "You could at least curse in your own language. And that's what you get for waking me up in such a rude manner!"

Bumblebee and Sam looked up with interest. They looked back at Ironhide as he spoke. "Ass, you weren't getting up any other way. Besides, aren't you worried about if Prowl makes it to the surface in one piece or not?" Ratchet finally turned a few paces from the door lever, his optics darker than normal.

"Frankly, Prowl can take care of himself. I highly doubt he'll do anything stupid upon entering the atmosphere. You're always so quick to jump to conclusions, it's sickening," he spat out in a rush. Bumblebee and Sam flinched. The medic was a little too testy to their liking at the moment. Ironhide gave a royal snort from his cooling vents before waving a hand at Ratchet.

"Go on, by the time you get up there you'll probably see him soaring through the atmosphere in a great big ball of fire," he said coolly. He rubbed at the side of his head vigorously before shaking it. Ratchet stood silent for a moment before turning his attention to Bumblebee. The scout jumped up, forgetting the human latched onto his side. Sam gave a shout of indignation, making Bumblebee jump again. Carefully, he picked his charge up and placed him on the couch. He heard the CMO give a sigh.

"Come on, Bee. The sooner we get up there, the sooner we get back," he said somberly, most of the anger before gone from his voice. Bumblebee gave a chirp and took several strides over to the larger mech. Ratchet turned and activated the door lever. Bumblebee waved sadly to Sam before kneeling down and transforming into the yellow Camaro. He revved his engine, waiting for the medic. Ratchet turned slightly to watch Ironhide as he shook his head again.

"If that's still bothering you when I get back, come on in and I'll take a look at it," he offered, making a silent peace offer between the two. Ironhide took it up, and nodded at the now transforming medic.

"You just keep an eye out for ol' Prowler there," he shouted out to the vehicles as they sped away. Sam and Ironhide watched quietly as the door came back down to the ground, making an echoing 'thunk' in the rec. room. It suddenly felt rather empty, the small numbers inhabiting the base narrowed down even more. Sam turned to watch Ironhide as the large and now rather intimidating mech continued to alternate between rubbing his head and shaking it. Giving a fake cough, Sam looked at the wall rather than Ironhide.

"So, uh. Mind giving me a ride home? Since you kinda made my ride…Well, leave?" he questioned hesitantly. Hearing silence, Sam looked again at the mech. Ironhide was watching him, his frame finally still. Slowly nodding his head he turned and started to the same door that Ratchet and Bumblebee left through. Sam started, and rushed over to the side of the couch so he could climb down it. He heard the door clanking open and began running to catch up to the Cybertronain. The mech had already turned into his alt form, his passenger side door open and waiting for Sam. Launching himself in, Ironhide took off before shutting his door. Sam turned to look through the window to watch the door close. On the outside, the base looked like a rusted over dust pile of junk. Turning back around, Sam scooted to the driver's side and placed his seat belt on. Safety first after all.

"So, uh…" Sam began nervously, trying to work out what he was going to say. Ironhide's chuckles filled the speakers around him.

"Is that all you say, young human?"

"No! It's just…well…What'd you do to wake up Ratchet?" he rambled out. Sam waited in silence, beginning to think that the truck was not going to talk to him. However, Ironhide rewarded Sam his answer with laughter as he took the boy home.

* * *

Bumblebee was surprised. Ratchet had not said one word since they left the base. The medic had let the scout lead the way and was keeping up with him rather well, considering his Hummer bulk. Bumblebee let his mind wander. Driving was easy to do off hand, especially since he had been the only Autobot to even look at human driving laws. Several thoughts crossed his CPU, but there was one that stuck and refused to leave. Those Cybertronians landing over on the east side of North America. If they were Autobots they wouldn't hesitate to designate themselves as such. And if they were Decepticons, they would have tried landing closer to the Autobots to get a good advantage over them. Whoever it was, they either were afraid of their alignment, or they were some of the rare neutralists. Bumblebee let out a whirr at that thought. There weren't many neutralists left, either they ran off and hid never to be heard from again, or they eventually joined a faction. His CPU then ran across the third party message from several days ago. Bumblebee revved his engine angrily, receiving a few looks from people driving alongside him on the highway. Noticing this, he sped up sheepishly. A private comm. flashed on his CPU, it was Ratchet. Bumblebee used his mirrors to look behind him. The medic was stuck behind several cars and a semi.

"Bee, what has gotten into your CPU? You're paying no attention to your speed, and you will surely draw the attention of the local authorities," Ratchet said over the comm. irritably. Bumblebee mentally winced. He didn't want an angry CMO on his case, especially this early into their three day trip.

"Sorry, Ratchet. Just thinkin' 'bout some stuff is all," Bumblebee voiced back over the comm. He heard Ratchet make a disgruntled sound.

"Well, slow down. Stop speeding up! I can't go any faster unless I put my sirens on," Ratchet shot back, anger lining his voice.

"Alright, alright. Cool it, Ratch. I'll slow down. So uh, whadda think of that transmission that told us to 'slag off'?"

"I'm not sure. It's odd that any Cybertronian would use text rather than speech to communicate."

"Alright, we both agree that they're tryin' to hide something. But, what is that something?"

"I haven't the slightest of ideas on my CPU, maybe after we collect Prowl and get him situated at base, you can contact them again!"

"And get my aft shot in the process? No thanks!" Bumblebee let out a snort on the comm. causing Ratchet to laugh on the other end. Bumblebee's thoughts slowed. '_At least I got him laughing,_' he mused to himself. He looked back again and noticed the bright yellow-green search and rescue Hummer behind him.

"How about this," Bumblebee started up again. "After we collect Prowl and get him settled in, _all_ of us go up to the east coast and find their sorry afts. Sounds like a great plan!" He waited for Ratchet's next answer.

"They're landing?"

'_Oh slag_,' Bumblebee cursed to himself. He started up the comm. again. "Uhm, well…I _think_ they're landing. Before we left, I found some signals indicating twenty unknown Cybertronians were landing up around New York and Vermont. Every time I asked for designations, I was blocked."

"This is a very bad thing. We have no idea how those 'bots are going to behave! They very well may _destroy_ all of New York!" Ratchet hissed out. Bumblebee could hear the worry in his voice.

"Well, for now let's just pick up Prowl. After we get back we'll head over there and see what's up. I left a report in the communications room for Optimus, he'll know what to do," Bumblebee said with false cheeriness. He closed off the comm. as Ratchet began grumbling on the other end. The scout revved his engine and took off again, keeping a car between him and the medic at all times now. Southwestern Idaho was still two-and-a-half days away, Bumblebee promised revenge on Ironhide when he came back. Preferably something that involved slick, waxy floors and a camera to catch the entire thing.

* * *

Thank you very much, AKAArzosah. I tried keeping your advice in mind while writing this chapter. Hopefully I did your help justice.  
Well, now...I've been keeping things moving sorta slowly so far, but don't worry. Time's gonna start picking up pretty darn fast, especially since the Twins are gonna show up next chapter!!  
Sunny: Oh, Primus. Sides, we're screwed!! D:  
Sides: Sunshine, you were my favorite brother!! -tacklehugeachotherfordearlife-  
They're pathetic...Anyhow, I may just work on a side fic of Ironhide waking up ol' Ratchet thar when I get bored. However, my Ratchet and Jazz muses won't let me sleep until this storyline has finally made view of the main OC char I'm gonna be dragging in soon in about two more chapters. D: Jazz dances around my head, blasting out music, refusing me a sane thought until I work on it. Ratchet...Throws things. xD

**Edited:** Changed some positioning of speaking text, sorry to early readers who had to pick out what these guys were saying in the middle of a paragraph. X-x;


	3. Bets and Scrap Heaps

Bumblebee and Ratchet had been gone a whole five days from their Nevadan base picking up Prowl. The tactician had been picky about his alt form, finally deciding on a local Ford Super Duty police truck. In the middle of Nevada near Eureka, Prowl decided his alt form would draw attention to the group. He took off and came back as a state police Dodge Charger, the truck mode deleted. Ratchet grumbled about this wasting time and energy that the three needed to get back to base, but Prowl argued that he was the only one who wasted anything. Ratchet promptly made them all move faster by turning on his sirens and taking off as fast as his alt mode would allow.

On day four of the trip, they received a transmission from Optimus Prime to tell them to be on the alert when they got back to base. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker planet fell earlier than they had predicted and were nursing their wounds in the med bay. This only caused Ratchet to push them further making them reach the base around sunset on the fifth day. Bumblebee was overjoyed at the high speeds while Prowl seemed to be dragging. Ironhide had met them at the front door, rather happy to see them. The twins had been a quite handful to keep in the base. Bumblebee retreated to the couch as Ratchet dragged Prowl to his med bay. Ironhide and Bumblebee held back laughter at Prowl's indignation to being treated and Ratchet's indifference to the tactician.

Bumblebee leaned back on the couch, spreading his arms across the back like he had seen many humans do. While racing around and pushing his limits as a snazzy new Camaro was fun, Bumblebee was glad to be done. He was a little stiff and sore from the constant high speeds. Watching Ironhide strut over to him, the scout watched the weapons specialist with a wary optic. The black mech leaned down and sat on the arm of the couch, watching Bumblebee just as suspicious.

"You coulda told us before ya left about those droppin' bots," Ironhide said rather coolly, placing his hands on his knees. Bumblebee moved his arm closest to Ironhide down across his lap while he shrugged.

"I left a report. Besides, you kinda didn't give me a chance to," the scout muttered back just as cold. He heard a snort from Ironhide's cooling vents.

"Coulda told Optimus before headin' out to the rec. room."

"Well, I didn't. And it's already been said and done."

The two watched each other silently for several seconds before Ironhide reached out and clasped his hand on Bumblebee's shoulder. Giving a grunt, Ironhide muttered, "Glad to have ya back, anyhow." Bumblebee nodded noticing most of the icy anger gone from Ironhide. Standing back up, Ironhide waved a lazy hand around in the air as he spoke again.

"When Ratch gets Sides and Sunny fixed up, take 'em out and get 'em some alt forms. Primus forbid they run around Hoover Dam in their protoforms, flashin' the poor humans," he said with some disdain. "Hopefully they'll listen to you. You're the only other one besides Jazz they ever paid **real** attention to."

Bumblebee's spark gave an aching pulse at the mention of the second lieutenant. He looked at Ironhide to see the black mech hurting in his own way from the memory of Jazz. Waving another hand and shaking his head, Ironhide left the room. The death of Jazz was still fresh on the Autobots' CPUs. The new arrivals would not be told until later, the pain was still too much to bear on the others. Bumblebee's antennas tightened to his head in sadness. Jazz's death was not in vain, however. The scout's antennas raised up a bit as he remembered his promise to himself…to Jazz. The mech would never have wanted the others to be so depressed like this. So, Bumblebee took it upon himself to remind the others of this thought. He'd be so slagging happy, no matter how much it hurt! A whirring chirp sounded, echoing through the rec. room from the scout. At the moment however, a nice long recharge would do more good than skipping around and spreading good cheer.

Standing up with a soft grunt, Bumblebee headed to his quarters. Backtracking his steps through the door into the rec. room, the scout headed to one of the smaller hangers to the left of the main building. Several twists and turns later, Bumblebee was at the door to his room. With slow movements, he tapped in a code on the side of the door allowing entry into the room. Immediately falling into his recharge berth, the yellow mech completely relaxed. He stretched his entire frame over the berth like a cat before settling down on his back. One by one his systems shut down as he mulled things over in his CPU.

'_Hopefully Arcee and Bluestreak will planet drop soon. They'd keep the twins in better line than I would_,' he mused to himself. Offlining his optics he pictured the femme and mech in his 'mind's eye', as the humans liked to call it. They'd be a sight for sore optics. Just as his CPU was sliding into recharge, a private comm. blared over his systems. Everything jumped online in an instant as Bumblebee grumbled angrily. He ignored it for a few minutes, hoping to slip into recharge. However, the communication kept fighting for his attention. Sitting up with a growl, Bumblebee answered the comm. to find Optimus's voice reaching his CPU.

"Bumblebee, please report to the med bay for an important meeting. And, what took you so long to answer?"

"Ugh, just trying to slip into recharge, sir. I'll be there in a bit. Bumblebee out."

The yellow mech gave a great sigh. He rubbed a hand over his head before standing up with some effort and made his way back into the main building and the med bay. The scene before him was disturbing to say the least. Optimus and Ironhide were holding down a protoform Cybertronian on a berth who was shouting angrily in their metallic tongue. Another protoform was sitting on its elbows on another berth yelling at the other protoform in a mixture of Cybertronian and the human language Spanish. Ratchet was trying to work on Prowl, who every few seconds would sit up, and bark at the other two, "Shut your audio processors!" Ratchet would then push Prowl back angrily, telling him, "_**Shut your sorry trap!!**_" The unattended protoform let out an audio cracking whistle before giving a shout above all the din.

"¡Su cara es mi cuarto de baño!"

All 'bots stopped as they looked up just _what_ the protoform had blurted out. Ratchet hissed in rage and slammed his hand down on an angry Prowl's chest as the tactician tried to get up to throttle the offending Cybertronian. The other protoform began laughing as Optimus and Ironhide stared at the half Spanish speaking protoform in disbelief. Everyone in the room finally noticed Bumblebee as he burst out laughing.

"Primus! 'Your face is my bathroom'?! Bwhaahaaahaha!!" Bumblebee offlined his optics in his mirth, not noticing Ratchet's and Prowl's death glares of doom. The offending protoform started babbling happily in Spanish as the other finally calmed down and sat back on its elbows as well, its laughter lessening. The sound of cannon fire hitting the roof made Bumblebee's optics whip back online. All were quiet as the angry whirring of Ironhide's cannons filled the room.

"Thank you, Ironhide. You can put the guns away now that _some_ reasoning has been restored to the room," Optimus said, placing a hand to his temple and rubbing it. Bumblebee walked forward to the unattended protoform as Optimus began speaking again.

"Now before Sunstreaker begins verbally attacking Sideswipe again, we need to discuss the non-affiliated Cybertronians that made planet fall five days ago."

Bumblebee looked to the protoform he was positioned next to and realized that he was standing next to Sunstreaker. The twin gave him a bob of the head before both turned back to Optimus as their leader continued speaking.

"Ironhide and myself have been trying to contact them, and we finally received a message a few hours before Prowl, Ratchet, and Bumblebee came back," the great mech said before being cut off by Ironhide.

"They're real shifty, whoever these 'bots are. While they kept repeating over and over they wouldn't touch the humans, they didn't say what the hell they were up to. Got real testy 'bout it too, finally told us to slag off an' go burn in the Pit." All the Autobots remained silent, the twins shifting a little in their partially destroyed protoforms. Optimus and Ironhide gave them all a look over before Optimus spoke again.

"We also received messages from Bluestreak and Arcee, they should not planet fall for another four weeks. I have discussed this issue with Ironhide, and we both agreed it would be best if all of us went to the east part of this country and dug these robots out. While they may _say_ they won't harm the humans, I'd rather go up and make sure," the red and blue mech said, eyeing every mech for a split second. Bumblebee's antennas rose up considerably. Holy Primus, the plan he told Ratchet was _right_. Ironhide gave a blast from his cooling units, something Bumblebee noted he did when agitated.

"However, Tweedle-Dumb and Tweedle-Dumber are so warped and mangled we barely got 'em out of their traveling pods! That'll take a while to fix," he snapped, cannons whirring again. Ratchet whacked a rather bulky tool against the berth Prowl was currently lying on, causing the tactician to jump. The CMO eyed Ironhide with narrow and angry optics.

"So long as those two sit still and let me work, I should be done with their repairs in a few days," he snapped back, pride dripping from his voice. Both the twins sat up at the same time, no longer leaning on their elbows.

"Ratch, we'll do whatever. Just get these stupid kinks out of our protoforms so we can go cruisin' for some alt modes!" Sideswipe said rather desperately. "Si!" Sunstreaker chirped beside him. Bumblebee resisted the urge to raise an optic brow at Sunstreaker's choice of human language. The CMO looked taken aback.

"Promise you two will lay still and not complain about your looks?" he asked skeptically, leaning an arm on Prowl, who flailed his free arm around trying to get Ratchet's attention. Both protoforms began agreeing, spewing out whatever sounded good in their CPUs to the medic. Ratchet stood still for a moment, tapping a finger on Prowl's chassis as he considered the twins. Prowl gave up on movement and settled for his fate as Ratchet's mech desk. Ironhide looked between the three before settling on staring at Ratchet as he spoke.

"I bet you couldn't get 'em done in five days."

"Ha! I could get them done in two, you pile of scrap metal!"

"Prove it."

"You're on, 'Hide. Three barrels of oil?"

"Call it four."

"Done. Now get the frag out of my med bay!" Ratchet pointed his bulky tool at the three standing mechs, deciding which one would make a more resounding clang. Ironhide let out a sharp laugh and turned to leave, Optimus following him after nodding at Ratchet and sending him some words over a private comm. Bumblebee watched curiously as the black mech looked over his shoulder and up at Optimus saying, "Watch, he'll get them done in three days…Those barrels have my name written all over 'em."

Bumblebee and Sideswipe flinched as one when a menacing hollow clang filled the room as the tool Ratchet had been wielding was thrown at the black mech's retreating back. Ironhide gave a hurt yelp, though it was probably for show, and dashed out the doors with Optimus hot on his heels. The hiss of the door reminded Bumblebee he should probably leave too. Taking hurried steps to the exit, he paused and picked up Ratchet's bulky tool. Hesitantly he looked back as Ratchet buried his face into his palm, finger tapping again. Against all better judgment, and the red warnings going off in his CPU, he turned around and held the tool in front of Ratchet. The CMO took his hand down, resting it on Prowl's chassis and gave Bumblebee a hard look.

"Thanks, Bee. Now go on and get some recharge before you have to babysit these two," he said with some envy, some pity, as he took the tool back from the scout. Bumblebee shifted his weight and again went against all the warnings his CPU was now screeching at him.

"Do you need some help repairing Prowl?"

Primus, his vocal processors sounded a lot braver than what he felt. Ratchet raised an optic brow, considering the young mech in front of him. Both twins were silent, watching the pair. Ratchet tapped the tool on the irritated tactician as he said, "Maybe not Prowl. But I'll need some help with the twins. I'm almost done with my scan on him and you could take him to his quarters before coming back here. I have plenty for you to do."

Bumblebee nodded, starting to wonder why he was so nice. Why couldn't he just turn his back like his leader and Ironhide?! He stood in silence as Ratchet finished Prowl up and began Bumblebee on his new duties.

* * *

"Will you two hurry up and pick a stupid car already?!" Sam hissed from Bumblebee's side, the scout in his Camaro form. One of the twins waved a hand at him, muttering in a rush, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." The human shifted his weight to his other leg, causing his position on Bumblebee to change ever so slightly. The scout honked his horn angrily as the other twin nearly stepped on a Porsche. The protoform hunched his shoulders up and stepped back, avoiding the expensive car. The first twin made the other three jump as he yelped excitedly.

"Sunny, lookit this one!"

The protoform walked around the building to join his twin. Sam furrowed his brow as Bumblebee's voice came over the speakers, "I'm worried. When Sides is excited it hardly means anything good is happening." Sam blinked and looked back at where the twins had disappeared. They needed to hurry. An exotic car lot on the outskirts of Las Vegas with two, twenty feet tall robots was bound to be noticed sooner than later. Sam stood up, relieving his light weight from Bumblebee.

"Dude, should we go check on them?" the boy asked taking one worried step forward, only to take two worried steps backwards as two engines roared to life behind the corner. Bumblebee rolled forward a few inches, curious and suspicious of what the twins picked. What pulled around the corner made them both speechless. The twins had found one of the few Lamborghini Diablo SV cars and made them their alt forms. Red and yellow paint jobs shimmered under lights as the two paraded forward, proud of their find. Their windows rolled down as Sam whistled.

"So, should we be congratulated now or later?" asked the yellow Lambo through his speakers. Bumblebee revved his engine angrily and bumped up against his charge's legs. Sam turned and looked at his guardian with feigned hurt.

"Bee, you know you're the only car for me. It's just, how those two bricks-for-brains found those classic and rare Lamborghinis is amazing," Sam laughed out loud. He heard Sideswipe and Sunstreaker both shout out in irritation, Sunny still using Spanish for Primus only knows why. Bumblebee was silent for a moment before saying carefully, "So, they found classically rare cars? Or rarely classic cars with a custom faded paint job?"

Sam paused for a moment until he realized his guardian was referring to the day Sam bought him. Breaking out laughing, he walked over to the open driver's door and got in. Bumblebee closed the door while Sam, still giggling, put on his seat belt. The Camaro revved his engine and pulled out on the highway back to the base. The Lambo twins roared their engines making the scout's revving seem pathetic, like comparing a house puppy's growl to a large wild wolf's snarl.

"You two are hopeless and you're gonna get us caught," Bumblebee's voice came over the speakers, making Sam jump. He was still getting used to the fact that his car allowed him in on private communications. Hearing a gasp of false pain, he frowned as Sideswipe began babbling over the comm.

"Oh you're just jealous of our wonderful new alt modes. Face the paint, Bee. You're like a scrap heap compared to us," the yellow twin popped in, speaking in rarely used English. Bumblebee laughed.

"Now you're just being stupid. You've both got 2000 year models while mine's a 2008, hardly scrap heap material."

"Haha, alright. He's got us there Sunny. Though, after Ratchet got done rubbing it up in ol' 'Hide's face, I thought Ratch was gonna be scrap heap!"

"No kidding. Forty hours was all it took. Man, Bee, you're lucky. The Hatchet shared a barrel of Ironhide's oil with you!"

"Ha! I worked my aft out helping him fix you guys, he promised me a barrel even if he didn't make the bet," Bumblebee snorted through the comm., making his engine rev again. Sam listened silently to the conversing mechs as he remembered the story his guardian had told him while driving back from California to the Hoover Dam base. Two days ago, the CMO had burst from his med bay, dragging the fixed up twins behind him. Apparently he threw the twins on the weapons specialist, and began playing _Two Pina Coladas_ on his alt form's radio. Ironhide reluctantly kept up his side of the bet and within two hours of having Sideswipe and a Spanish babbling Sunstreaker in his lap, Ratchet had four barrels of oil sitting in his med bay. Sam looked up, realizing that the comm. was quiet and Bumblebee was playing the radio softly. The boy rolled his shoulders and looked at the clock. 11'oclock at night, and his guardian still had to take him home. It was hard explaining to your parents that your car is an eighteen foot tall, plasma cannon wielding robot from outer space. It was even harder to explain why your car was going to be gone the next three weeks or so.

Sam refused to let Bumblebee go up to New York without having a proper farewell. Unfortunately, he had to go with his guardian to keep an eye on the twins while they searched for an alt form. However, it was better than nothing so Sam kept his mouth shut. Coming upon a split in the highway, Bumblebee took off towards California to drop off his charge. The twins continued towards Hoover Dam and the base. The boy unbuckled his seat belt and stretched out in the front seat as best he could, yawning lightly.

"Tired Sam?" Bumblebee's soft voice coming over the radio's music. Sam shook his head and grinned.

"Naw, bored actually. So why are you guys going up there again?"

As Bumblebee rambled on about the new bots and who they were, what they were like (at least in their messages), and why in slag they acted so weird, Sam felt himself nodding off. He took one last look at the clock before turning his head and falling asleep with his face plastered to the seat. The scout kept babbling on, discussing this and that until Sam gave out a snore. He stopped talking and checked his clock. It was roughly one in the morning and they had another hour of driving. Bumblebee turned up the radio as he sped up well above the speed limit. As much as he cared for his charge, the scout really needed to be back at the base. They promised they would wait until Bumblebee got back from dropping off Sam, but not to dawdle. As soon as he got back, the Autobots would be headed to the city of New York, the last place of transmissions from the strange bots. As soon as he got back, they were going to go on a three week trip to meet their newest source of panic.

Neutral Cybertronains.

* * *

o-o' That was a fun chapter to write...at least the bit with the twins. Yaaaay, twins. :D Jazz muse is happy. This chapter is a little longer than I originally planned. I've got to go to a fair/rodeo for about a week. It'll be hard to get any time to type on this.  
Sunny: Oh, thank PRIMUS! She kept us as LAMBOS!  
Sides: I offered her chocolate for that.  
Prowl: You should have bribed for me as well. A _Charger_?! D: Where's my Datsun?!

Yeaaaah...I figure he was never around a Datsun so he's not gonna be a Datsun. However, Bluestreak will be.

-Dramaticpose- TO THE RODEO FAIR THING!!

Prowl: A 'mech desk'? You are hanging around the wrong bot.

Errr...

**Edited: **Changed some chapter positions and just _who_ Bumblebee had been standing next to. xD Whupz. Thanks Valkyrie Prime for your advice. I'm welcome to anything you guys have for advice. Like I said on my profile page, I'm setting this story up here to get _**better**_.


	4. Speeding Violations

"_Optimus_, _why can't we go faster_?!" moaned an all too familiar voice over the Autobot's main comm. The others all grumbled, Ratchet hissing out a few choice curse words at Sunstreaker's whining.

"Sunshine, can it will you? Not Optimus's fault that he picked an alt mode that was slow…Wait, it is," came Sideswipe's voice over the comm. The black topkick butted his bumper with no mercy, causing the red Lambo to swerve over the road. Horns honked angrily as Sideswipe took his place back alongside Sunstreaker. The Charger pulled up uncomfortably close to Sunstreaker's bumper and refused to leave.

"Will you two cut it out? We've got to behave otherwise local authorities are going to pull us over. I don't want to have to explain to the government why two of our soldiers are misbehaving miscreants like Decepticons instead of Autobots," Prowl said quietly through the comm. The Twins were silent, following behind Bumblebee and Ratchet with no further mishaps. Optimus was behind all of them, Prowl moving between following the Twins to cruising along the Prime's side. It wasn't like this the entire trip. At first, Sunstreaker or Sideswipe would take off in the lead and someone would have to chase them down. Eventually it turned into a giant game of tag until Minnesota where some local kids tried chasing them too. Prowl shut down their fun pretty fast with his lights and sirens.

The mellow mood was set for the rest of the trip, the kids reminding the Autobots they were there for a war, not play. Needless to say it made the rest of the trip to New York City feel longer than it was. The entire trip took six days, stopping only once or twice to recharge. They quickly set up a base of operations in the backwoods of New York, miles from any humans. The plan was to split up in partners and look for spark signatures. Once found, they were to restrain the neutral 'bots and bring them back to base. Easier said than done.

Bumblebee and Ratchet took off in one direction while the Twins took off in another leaving behind the more conspicuous Autobots to guard the base. The scout dove in and out of traffic easily, his small bulk fitting in with New York's compact vehicles. His alt form caught a few eyes, but generally got no attention. Ironhide, on the other hand, was having **much** more trouble.

"Fraggin' drivers! Don't they ever pay attention? That human nearly hit me! This place is much too crowded for this mess," the weapons specialist muttered darkly in a private comm. to his partner. Bumblebee stifled a laugh and felt a pang of pity. The overly large truck was definitely not made for New York. And at the moment, it was all in vain. Not one spark signal was found. Bumblebee considered all the options in his CPU while waiting on traffic to move.

If these neutralists had hidden so well in the past, they'd have no problem hiding here. There was so much cross interference from the human's technology it was difficult to keep a keen eye on the sensors. Not only that but if these 'bots really knew what they were doing they could, and probably were, hiding their spark signatures like a scout. That made Bumblebee change his way of thinking.

Scouts usually changed the frequency of their spark, it wasn't by much, but it made spark tracing almost impossible. There were natural scouts that could do this without any special training and were highly desired on a team. A 'bot could learn how to change their frequency, but it would take a long time and was very difficult to do. Not only that, but they left more traces than a natural. The scout himself was a natural and by tweaking his sensors and his own spark should, theoretically, make the neutral bots stand out like a normal trace. Bumblebee moved forward with traffic and noted Ironhide was still stuck behind him several cars. Turning at the light, he made the necessary changes to himself and everything became glaringly obvious.

"Hey, Bee! Where'd the frag ya go? I can't find ya on my sensors anymore," Ironhide shouted over the private comm. frantically. Hearing no reply for several seconds, Ironhide called out again. "Bumblebee?"

"Head over to Central Park, I'll meet up with you when you get there. Bumblebee out."

"Bee? Bee, what the frag did you find?! Bumblebee, answer me! Slag it, Bee!" Ironhide cursed over the comm. and honked angrily at the traffic, causing several people to look at the large truck in the middle of cars and taxi vehicles with questioning glances. The scout gave a silent apology to his comrade in arms and continued on the spark path to Central Park.

It was a slow trek, but Bumblebee made it without too much hassle. However, getting inside the park without alerting the cops was another story. There was a single cop guarding right where the path led through. Bumblebee growled in frustration, causing his engine to roar. The cop looked over at him angrily and the scout cursed at himself as the human walked over. Peeling out, Bumblebee took note that the cop had jumped into his own car and was giving chase. The Camaro turned sharply, passing by a bright orange vehicle and heard the sirens of the police car behind him.

"_Frag_," he hissed mentally. Noticing the way he was going was blocked with traffic, he turned down a back alley and back towards the park. The cop was still hot on his tail. Cursing again, his engine roared as he flew past the park. Eventually the cop would call for reinforcements and then he'd _really_ be screwed. Becoming frantic, Bumblebee took off down another back alley and began cutting through traffic. The police car was still chasing him, sirens echoing through the buildings.

It didn't take long until the scout was out on the Manhattan Bridge, clearing traffic left and right. Not realizing it, his spark readjusted its frequency back to normal. Anyone looking for Cybertronian traces would spot him immediately. Bumblebee looked back again and noticed the cop had a friend. Oh, great. Prowl was going to chew him out later, if he didn't get caught first of course. Suddenly, screeching sounds were made behind him and several more police cruisers joined the chase. The scout looked behind him and watched in horror as two more sporty cars raced up next to him. The drivers seemed content with sitting at either side of his bumper.

"_What the __**slag**__ do those humans think they're doing?!_" Bumblebee shouted mentally. This needed to end now. Accelerating, his engine went from a loud purr to a roar even the twins 

would be proud of. However the cars kept up with no problem. The police posse behind them was rapidly falling behind, the high speeds even too much for their pumped up vehicles. Bumblebee began to question just what kind of cars these humans had when he hit 200 miles an hour, and accelerating. There were only four human cars on record that were street legal **and** could go that fast. These two vehicles certainly weren't one of them. He quickly scanned the internet for their models and balked at what he found.

The one on his right was a forest green Mazda Rx-8, a vehicle more popular back in California. The car on his left was a dark blue Plymouth Barracuda 1971 version, Bumblebee noted but it was off from the design specs. The Barracuda's engine roared and flames shot up from side exhaust pipes, almost sounding like a snarl. The car flew forward, making Bumblebee feel like he was standing still. The Mazda flew past him as well, passing the blue car in a burst of speed and swerving violently in front of it. Brakes screeched as the two cars slowed down again and this time Bumblebee went zooming past. They had reached the end of the bridge a while ago and were starting to get into the suburbs of New York. Sirens reached the three cars and the two slammed on their brakes, long black marks behind them. Bumblebee continued, noting the cars turned around and went head long into the cops. He could see the authorities scattering as the cars drove head-first into them before dropping over a hill.

"_Bumblebee, you've got five seconds to tell me what the __**glitch**__ is going on and where the __**slag**__ you are_," came an angry Ironhide over the comm. Bumblebee jumped a curb, surprised.

"I've gone across the Manhattan Bridge and I'm headed back to base. The cops decided they wanted to play tag and I need to lay low for a while. Sorry I didn't say anything before, I thought I found traces of them and I wanted to sneak up on 'em. Guess I kinda screwed up."

"**FRAGGING RIGHT YOU DID!**" bellowed Ironhide. Bumblebee mentally winced as his partner continued.

"I went to the park and no Bumblebee. No, of course not. I tune into the human's radio and you want to know what I heard?

"What?" Bumblebee said cautiously, fearful of Ironhide's loud and icy tone. A copy of the radio transmission was played to the scout.

"Everyone is advised to be careful on the roads right now. There is a high speed chase going on right now as local authorities chase down a yellow 2008 Chevrolet Camaro. Drivers are warned that the driver of the Camaro is dangerous and erratic. So far no casualties have been reported, and we warn everyone again. If you see a yellow 2008 Chevrolet Camaro with black decal stripes driving at high speeds, get off of the roads."

Bumblebee drove in silence as the message finished. So he didn't just kinda screw up. He _really_ screwed up. Stopping at a quiet intersection, he mulled over the consequences of his actions. Primus, he was really going to get chewed out later. Sirens reached him from his right. Terror flooded his CPU as he debated which way to go. A blast of orange went past him, along with the police cruiser. Except, something was off.

"Ironhide! Barricade just went blasting past me chasing a car!" he shouted over the comm., databursting his location to Ironhide. The weapons specialist started cursing again, but nonetheless took off after the scout. Bumblebee peeled out and took chase. Whatever the Decepticon was planning, he had to stop it! He changed his spark frequency for the second time that day and began gaining on the two vehicles in front of him, ignoring the people staring. An unknown signal came up on his sensors and he realized just what Barricade was chasing.

His engine roared as he came up on the Decipticon and hit his bumper. The stakes on this race were much higher now, and Bumblebee refused to lose. Barricade hissed over an open comm. at Bumblebee but refused to transform least he lose the car in front. All three noticed the tight five mile an hour corner coming up on them, and the Cybertronians in the back slammed on their brakes leaving smoke in their wake. The front orange car however, transformed slightly and leaped off of one of the houses and back onto the road completing the turn without losing any momentum. The movement was fast, graceful, and wild like a leaf on a gust of wind. Bumblebee's engine roared again as he used Barricade as an outside bumper through the turn and passed him.

The orange car swerved violently to the right around a corner and disappeared behind a building...and the arguing bots behind it followed. But when they turned the corner, the orange car was gone. Barricade slowed, finding no traces, and turned off down an alley turning off his lights and snarling a few insults at Bumblebee before leaving to go back into the main stream of New York City. The scout however, kept going forward. Barricade alone wouldn't cause much damage. This 'bot he was following however, could. The spark trace was very slight, this Cybertronian knew what they were doing, he had to give them that. Probably another natural scout with this little of a trace showing.

He continued to follow the trail, going down back alleys and main streets. At a four way stop, a horn blared at him and the scout finally began paying attention to his surroundings. He had just cut off a large, black, and rather angry Ironhide.

"_Oh snap_," he muttered mentally. The big truck pulled in behind him and tapped him on the bumper. Bumblebee honked his horn, irritated. He opened up their comm. again, snapping, "What is it?"

"You keep forgetting I can't keep up with you, fraggin' glitch."

"Barricade doesn't wait, Ironhide. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a tra…" The scout slowed his talking and stopped.

"What?" Ironhide asked, annoyed at Bumblebee.

Bumblebee was silent as the orange car sat on the next street, parked off to the side of traffic under a tree. Ironhide curiously watched the scout and this orange car before snapping over the comm., "Bee, what is it?"

"That was the car that Deceptipunk was chasing."

"That car?"

"Yep, and it's one of them. I know it can feel our signals, I'm curious as to why it's not running off yet."

"**That** car?"

"Yes."

**That** car was a 2009 Ford Mustang, only a few prototypes had been made of it. Not to mention it was a bright orange color. Needless to say, it stood out a bit. The two Autobots were silent for a bit until the Mustang roared to life, scaring a kid and his dog on the sidewalk. The orange sports car sped off, going well over the speed limit. Gusts of smoke came from the tires as it flew behind some houses.

"That car?"

"Will you shut up, 'Hide?"

* * *

Eee, I hate this chapter. X-x' Fortunately it just builds up for the next chapter. If anyone can't see the subtle hints for names of these 'bots I've put through this chapter, I'm somewhat sorry and somewhat calling you blind. xD; Fair is over and I got quite a kick out of it. Found time to write most of this. Moves by faster than the other chapters because I was trying to make it feel fast paced. Haha, epic fail. Thanks to my reviewers, I appreciate the advice and the fact I've caught your attentions to a movie verse flick. Next, the Lambo dolts have found somefink!!  
Sides: _Dolts_?  
Sunny: Can we kill her yet?  
Eeeh...My Jazz and Ratchet muses laugh at me.


	5. Capturing a Cuda

The yellow Camaro and black topkick made their way through the wooded backlands of New York to the field base and three slightly irritated mechs, Prowl being the exception who was angered more than the others cared for. The scout cruised along silently behind the fuming weapons specialist, careful not to get too close to the truck. The three mechs back at the field base had heard the warning over the radio and became rather cross when Ironhide had confirmed it was indeed, Bumblebee, whom the police were chasing over half of New York City. Needless to say, Bumblebee was not looking forward to seeing Optimus or Ratchet. Definitely not looking forward to seeing Prowl again. He mentally grimaced. While one of the neutral 'bots had been spotted, it was a unanimous agreement to head back to base. It was best if they laid low for a while.

'_Correction, if_ **I**_ laid low for a while_,' Bumblebee thought irritably. For once he was driving in a straight line rather than weaving back and forth in his lane happily. The Twins had yet to report anything and were not in trouble. Instead, he was! What cruel fate had Primus thrown upon him? The scout sighed, making his engine's R.P.M. accelerate momentarily.

'_Ha! I bet those two haven't even seen one of the bots, much less looked for them_,' he thought bitterly. It made him feel a twinge better taking his misfortune, turning it around, and blaming the Twins. From Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, he moved onto Ironhide. The big ol' mech was grouchy and slow. Too conspicuous and too overprotective, and the insults just kept rolling. From Ironhide he went to Ratchet, to Prowl, even to Optimus. By the time he and Ironhide reached the base, Bumblebee was feeling much better after mentally picking apart his comrades.

They rolled in, Ironhide having much more ease over the roots and foliage than Bumblebee. The scout finally just transformed, walking rather than hitting his sensitive undercarriage unnecessarily. Ratchet glowered at him while Ironhide grabbed Optimus's attention, leaving Prowl's reaction and punishment yet. Bumblebee winced but realized Ratchet turned back to Prowl and they were muttering. The scout stood up straight, confused. Wasn't he in trouble?

"Uh, not that I don't mind, but where's the reprimand for having the cops chase after me?" Bumblebee watched as Prowl and Ratchet gave him full attention, Optimus and the now transformed Ironhide glanced in his direction and went back to their now heated discussion.

"While you were out playing 'Need for Speed', those idiots went out and actually found something. They've caught one of the mechs and are headed back to base," Ratchet grumbled out, walking backwards and sitting down on the trunk of a tree taller than him. Bumblebee felt a pang of rage hit him. "They _what_?"

"They apprehended one of the Cybertronians and are bringing him back to base to be interrogated," Prowl stated before looking over at Ironhide who had just broken off a tree branch. The three mechs stared silently as the black mech proceeded to hit the larger red and blue mech with said branch.

"You're an idiot! You should have been more specific of what they were to do with the bot!" Ironhide growled as he took another swing. Optimus caught the branch and ripped it out of the angered mech's hands.

"Maybe you should have done the same thing with the one you and Bumblebee found," he shot back, irritated. The two bots stared at each other, tense and unmoving. That is until Optimus whapped the branch on Ironhide's head and tossed it to the ground. The black mech gave a huff and hissed, "Cheater."

Bumblebee and Ratchet visibly relaxed after that. Prowl however, was radiating confusion. Ratchet chuckled and muttered, "They've grown rather silly since Megatron was killed. Kinda like giant sparklings but they're louder."

Prowl shook his head and sat down against a tree as well, pushing air through his cooling vents softly as he did so. Bumblebee watched Ironhide and Optimus as they went back to talking quietly (they seemed to do that often now a days) before turning back to the sitting mechs.

"So when are the Twins supposed to get here?"

"With hope, in the next twenty minutes," Ratchet answered and rotated his shoulder. Bumblebee noticed the pained expression on the CMO as he barely heard a popping sound. His joints must have caught and made a grinding point somwhere. Very painful for any mech because whenever one moved their limb around, the point would wear painfully against the smooth socket causing scratches. The scout felt a pang of pity for him before a strained yelp reached his audios. The quintet all froze and looked around. The yell seemingly bounced around the forest, making it almost impossible to figure out which direction it came from.

"**Knock it off, you slagger!**"

The shout in their native tongue surprised them, as well as the curse. That only meant one thing. The group groaned as one, the Twins were back early. Prowl and Ratchet stood up as one. Bumblebee noticed Prowl's arm cannon clicking into place as the tactician moved. They moved into a line facing the direction of the now constant and unintelligible arguing. Bumblebee pulled out his arm cannon and noted that Ironhide had both of his cannons activated. There was a loud crash and more yelling and cursing. Bumblebee took a step back while Prowl took a step forward, his cannon humming in anticipation. Then, there they were.

There was a twin on either side of him, holding his arms and lifting him above the ground. The mech was a good five or six foot smaller than them and his size wasn't helping. He was kicking tremendously and his dark blue armor was slightly dusty from occasionally hitting the dirt. Bumblebee titled his head. Mentally running over his own armor, the scout compared his armor to the new comer. The differences were…different. The blue mech's armor was much slimmer, curvier, and appeared to be lighter. He felt movement next to him and looked out of the side of his optics at Prowl.

Prowl had lowered his cannon and taken another step forward, a dumbfounded expression on his face. Quickly looking at the rest of the line, they looked a bit surprised as well. Turning back to the Twins, he waited silently at this newcomer. Was it someone they had met before and Bumblebee was never introduced? The scout watched as Sunstreaker growled when the mech landed a kick to his thigh. The yellow warrior grunted and gave the blue mech a shake while Sideswipe hissed at them both. Optimus made sound similar to the humans clearing their throats and the three mechs looked at him in surprise. Sideswipe's face took on a rather proud grin.

"Hey, hey, hey. Lookit at what we snared. We were just driving around when we heard police sirens goin' off and this little blue car went flyin' past us. Sunshine said it was nothing, but there was somethin' off about it. Especially when it was goin' about two hundred, plus. So I whipped out and started chase. Sunny followed along and we got the car cornered, and I'll be…" Sideswipe started off until a rather high pitched scream came from the mech between them as he aimed a kick at the red mech. Everyone in the vicinity winced as the mech hit his mark, causing Sideswipe to start cursing death threats and Sunstreaker to pick up on his twin's unfinished story.

"The car was one of the Cybertronians we were looking for. Not only that, but a _femme_ Cybertronian," the yellow warrior summed up in a bored tone, but his tone couldn't hide the excitement in his optics. Bumblebee looked at the mech…femme. Well, that explained a lot. What it didn't explain was why one of the few femmes left alive after Megatron's ramage was here on Earth.

"Let me go, or so help me Primus, I'll stick both your heads up each other's afts!" the blue femme screeched between the Twins, startling the mechs with her English. It had a slightly Brooklyn accent, but still had that slight metallic Cybertronian tone that all of them spoke with. Sunstreaker snorted.

"Sure doesn't act like a lady," he stated darkly. This enraged the blue femme between them even more, causing her to twist and turn like fish out of the water. Sideswipe grunted as she landed another kick on him. A small burst of flames and an engine roaring from her back caused the red warrior to pause, his grip loosened. That's all she needed.

Wrenching her arm up, she threw off Sideswipe's restraining hold. His arm went flying up and his balance swayed. Turning in the surprised Sunstreaker's grasp, the femme lashed out with her leg again. A clang was heard as her foot made connection with Sideswipe's side, causing the red twin to fall over on his hip. Sunstreaker finally reacted and pulled the femme closer to him, trying to grab her other arm.

A hissing sound came from her as she pulled away from Sunstreaker, her arm bent at the elbow from the force of trying to use brute strength to shake off the yellow mech. Her hips turned as she rotated on one foot and kicked at Sunstreaker with the other. He pulled back, avoiding her foot but causing her to off balance. She leaned towards him, still on one foot.

Sunstreaker's other arm snaked out and grabbed her, pulling her against him. She thrashed, but Sunstreaker's bear hug was too strong for her lithe body to break. Sideswipe stood up slowly, watching the two with a weary optic.

"You think you got her, bro?"

"Yeah," Sunstreaker grunted back. The femme feebly screamed before hanging limp in Sunstreaker's arms, letting out a small sigh of despair. Ironhide finally spoke up.

"I'll be damned," he said in awe, his entire body limp from astonishment.

* * *

Eeeh, sorry 'bout the wait. X-x Ratchet muse got mad and refused Jazz speaking rights to me. Besides, cliffy's are always fun. :D  
I read back over my other chapters and got pissed at 3 and 4. I got lazy and it shows. Soooo, I tried to bring back more of the first two chapters into this one and hopefully, I achieved it. It doesn't feel like it at the end. But then again, I've never been good at writing action. X.x I've stuck another hint in as to what the blue femme's name is, if you can guess what vehicle she is. And if you think she's gonna be some god-send Mary-Sue with whom the twins fall in love with...You get a V8 bash to the head.  
Sunny: Aw, but she beats up Sides so well. :D  
Sides: May I use my pile drivers on him? T-T


	6. Failed Boasting

Normally when a person catches something rare, amazing, and beautiful, they show it off. Even the modest people show off in little ways. They parade the thing around and that action is comparable to Neanderthal hunters showing off a successful hunt. It is an amazing subconscious reaction in the brain of 'I'm-better-than-you' type of survival technique. Time has evolved this thought and warped it into whoever has the most expensive stuff available on Earth is better than everyone else. This same psychological action is found in Cybertronians as well.

Compare Example A, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker to Example B, Bumblebee. When Example B found his quarry, he merely made a note of it to the others and chose not to take actions of bringing said quarry in and showing the others. Example A found their quarry and caught it. They brought it back in and proceeded to brag about it…horribly brag about it.

Sunstreaker shifted his weight to his other leg, arms still tight around the dark blue femme in his arms. His red twin was grinning like a maniac now that the femme was under control. The others took note Sideswipe giving his brother, and the femme, a wide birth.

"Yep, easy! A femme no less, I doubt Mirage and Hound could do better. Haha, we're awesome," Sideswipe boasted, his grin widening as much as his faceplates would allow. Sunstreaker's face held the same maniacal touch as his brother. They knew they caught something precious and they wanted everyone to know that **they** captured it.

Prowl gave a snort out of irritation and his cannon clicked back into pace as his hand returned. The Twins gave the tactician a look of wonder, the usually calm mech hardly ever showed emotions. Prowl walked forward and around to Sunstreaker's side to see the poor femme's face.

"What is your designation?" he asked kindly, his head tilted slightly to see hers past the yellow armor. She looked up, a mixture of emotions on her face, and snarled at Prowl.

"Let me go," she hissed out, furious with the mechs.

"That's quite a name, Let Me Go. I guess we call ya Go for short?" Ironhide sniggered, receiving a disapproving look from Prowl.

"I'm afraid we can't do that until we find out what you are doing on this planet and which faction you belong to," the tactician said calmly, watching the femme and her legs. She knew how to attack, Sideswipe was proof of that.

"I don't belong to a faction you glitch-headed idiots!" she snapped. A rumble came from her body. Even in her bipedal form, she could access her engine. Sunstreaker looked down at the femme, surprise laced in his face and frame.

"I thought Neutralists escaped to the other end of the universe, not here to little ol' Earth," he stated slowly, picking his words with caution. The femme in his arms snorted, he could feel heat from her back on his arms.

"Received a transmission from some Optimus Prime saying Earth was home now. So, took off and came to Earth," she replied tersely, glaring her captor. Prowl frowned. He had received that transmission too, but it was sent on an Autobot frequency. The only way the femme would have been able to catch it was if she was an expert hacker or an Autobot. Autobot wasn't an option, the familiar red faction symbol not visible on her body and the fact she already stated she was a Neutralist.

"That message was sent on an Autobot frequency. How did you manage to hack into it?" he asked in a clipped tone. If she was a hacker, they would have to keep an eye on her so she didn't start messing up their systems. The femme shrugged as best she could in Sunstreaker's arms.

"Gust told us," was the simple reply like it answered every question in the world. This raised more confusion in the mechs.

"Gust?" Prowl inquired.

"Gust," the femme repeated, locking optics with the black and white tactician. Prowl frowned.

"So, who is Gust? You speaking in third-person?" he asked, turning his head right again. The femme let out a sharp, humorless laugh.

"I'm not Gust. Gust would have shot these slag head Lamborghinis by now," she answered. She rolled her shoulders and looked up at Sunstreaker who glared at her. She offered him a cheeky smile before rotating her shoulders again.

"Think ya' boys can get Daisy here to let go of me? He's startin' to squish my shoulders in," she said, her head lolling backwards to look at the rest of the Autobots upside down. She gave them all a quick glance before yelping and pulling her head back up. Sunstreaker's arms had tightened to the point of pure pain. Prowl elbowed Sunstreaker, sending him a quick data burst before talking to the femme.

"How's this for a deal, I'll put some restraints on you so you don't run off and Sunstreaker will let you go. But, you have to give us your designation."

The femme mulled over this, looking at Sunstreaker's bright yellow chest for a moment.

"Cuda."

"Excuse me?"

"Cuda, my name is Cuda. There, now get this fraggin' dumbass to let go of me," she hissed, snapping her optics back on Prowl.

"Haha, she's got a colorful mouth," Sideswipe sniggered. Prowl and Sunstreaker glared at him.

"Shut your face, dipshit," Sunstreaker shot back, growling at his twin. He tightened his hold on the femme, not realizing it till she yelped again. Prowl pulled something metal and shiny from his chassis compartment and set it on the femme's wrists. Sunstreaker let go of the blue femme who pushed away from him irritably She then backed up into a tree and sat down, glaring numbly at her restraint.

"So, Cuda. Now that you have given us your name, we'll give you ours. I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots," Optimus finally spoke, using his gentlest tone for the femme. Her optics snapped up at him, watching him like a hawk.

"This is Ironhide, my weapons specialist. Ratchet, the chief medical officer. Prowl is tactician officer. Bumblebee is our scout. And the two warriors who caught you are Sideswipe and Sunstreaker," the mech continued, pointing around at the mechs as he mentioned them. Cuda's optics landed on each one as they made friendly waves or nods. Other than the Twins. They glared at her and huffed, though Sideswipe didn't look nearly as angry as Sunstreaker. Optimus continued speaking.

"We came to Earth searching for the All Spark. We found it, and it was destroyed in the last battle with Megatron. The war is no more. We have taken guardianship over the humans and hide in plain sight. However, we have been alerted of your group and I cannot allow you to run amok until I know for certain in my spark you will not harm the humans," he said, the last part with a much more serious and cold tone. Cuda mentally shuddered. Big guy, big fists, big world of hurt. She watched Optimus, her face blank. He did not continue, the big stupid mech. Cuda rolled her shoulders and shot a blast of air from her cooling vents.

"We aren't gonna harm the humans. The only thing we been doin' is racin' em. I assure you, the only thing harmed is their egos," she shouted out, hiding the desperation in her voice. If she could get away, the others wouldn't have to show themselves and she wouldn't have to deal with her superiors. Ironhide snorted.

"Likely story," he muttered darkly, his hands settling on his hips. Oh, how this femme reminded him of someone. Cuda shot a glare at him and hissed.

"Why would I lie when each an' every one of ya could shoot me dead where I sit?" she spat, uncrossing her legs. Ironhide raised an optic ridge.

"Have you heard of the femme Chromia before?" he asked and tilted his head up to look down upon her, as if he wasn't already. Cuda's face bore absolute confusion.

"No, I only know two other femmes and they certainly don't go by that name," she said, shaking her head. Ironhide shrugged.

"Eh, don't worry 'bout it then," he waved her off, pretending to ignore whatever she had to say next. The dark blue femme huffed, her engine rumbling again. Ratchet spoke up at her actions.

"So, how exactly can you still work your engine if you're in bipedal mode?"

"Easy, my engine doesn't break apart in bipedal mode."

"That's helpful," Ratchet muttered, fingers itching to find a wrench. Cuda smiled sarcastically at him then turned back to Prowl as he took the conversation back in the right direction.

"You mentioned a, 'Gust' before. Who is it?"

Cuda made a hacking sound and looked at Prowl as if he was dancing around singing 'Milkshake' and wearing a lampshade.

"You don't know who Gust is? Wow, I guess she and Slate _have_ done a good job," Cuda muttered, looking down at the ground and thinking hard about something. This only raised more confusion.

"Slate?"

"Herm, I don't think I'm gonna tell you guys who they are. I don't really think you wanna meet 'em either. They're scary when they're pissed," Cuda answered Prowl's question. Dubious looks were shared among the mechs.

"Gust even has a gun!"

All mechs turned to look back at the femme. What kind of crack pot operation did they have where guns were rare? Even citizens had equipped some low range rifles to ward off factions if need be. So why were this femme and her little group left out of it?

"Excuse me?" Ironhide asked, shocked. Cuda sat up a little straighter, confused. Ironhide shook his head and took several large steps up to Cuda and squatted next to her, optic leveled with each other.

"You ain't used ta seein' guns?" he asked dubiously. The dark blue femme shook her head, wondering if she said something wrong. Ratchet came forward and squatted down next to Ironhide.

"Exactly how old are you?" the medic asked, running several scans that made the femme shudder.

"I dunno, I remember when I was just a sparkling everyone was screaming about the All Speck sommant or other bein' tossed out into space and lost for all eternity. Never really learned much about it and don't remember too much before that either," she said, her tone becoming irritated as she finished. Ratchet stood up before he fell over. Ironhide shook his head while the others walked forward and inspected the femme closer.

If what she had said was true, she was younger than even Bumblebee. How this had happened confused the mechs and left them speechless.

"What?" she asked, hidden innocence suddenly laced her voice. Sideswipe made a sort of choking sound while his twin grunted. Cuda looked at Prowl and Optimus, whose blank expressions scared her.

"Whad I do? If it's not knowin' about the All Speck thingy, I'm sorry. My creators sorta up an' left me so I don't know much about Cybertronian history," she said sadly, adding more points to her innocence. Sunstreaker gave a great snort of air from his own cooling vents.

"The whole cutesy thing is starting to grate on my nerves. What the Pit is a femme this young doin' runnin' around on her own?" he spat, looking away from Cuda. She slumped. Everything that was once fighting and energetic was now inert and depressed. Sideswipe hit his twin upside the head.

"You've made it worse, ya slagger!"

"Enough with the language!" Prowl snapped, glaring daggers at the Twins.

"But she said just as much!" Sunstreaker shot back, hurt. Prowl growled as Ironhide stood up.

"That don' matter. Just shut yer traps and leave it at that," the black mech growled. Sideswipe huffed while Sunstreaker leaned forward, a fist raised in rebellion.

"But you guys _know_ I'm _right_. Why am I getting fraggin' blamed for it?!"

"Because of your slagging language, ya glitch!" Ratchet spat, turning to face the yellow warrior. Bumblebee kneeled down to Cuda and put a hand on her arm.

"Sorry if they're scaring you. I've been waiting for this blow up to happen for a while now, I'm sorry it had to happen in front of you," he said sadly. Cuda tilted her head, considering Bumblebee then shook it.

"If ya say sorry one more time, I'm gonna drop kick ya in the face!"

"Primus, I was just trying to be nice!"

"Ugh, mechs!"

While Cuda and Bumblebee continued to argue, the five-way argument between the mechs was escalating. Ratchet and Ironhide were now roaring to match Sunstreaker's and Sideswipe's level of volume. Prowl would occasionally get a word in when the mechs were blasting air through their cooling vents to relieve some of the heat they were making.

"I'm going to throw you both in the brig when we get back to base!"

"As if you could catch us!"

"And don't forget, Prowler. _There is no brig!_"

"We don't need a brig to keep you two sorry afts in line! Come on, Ratch! Let go of mah cannons!"

"You can't shoot their sorry afts because then _**I**_ have to fix their sorry afts!! You know how much of a pain that is?!"

With the volume of their argument increasing and Bumblebee's and Cuda's argument getting shriller, Optimus was at a loss.

"_**ENOUGH**_!"

Everyone went painfully silent, staring at Optimus's shaking form. The giant mech pulled himself to his fullest height, reminding them all how much he actually bowed over to seem smaller. It was rather impressive.

"You are **NOT** sparklings and I refuse to allow another minute of this **STUPID** behavior! _AM I UNDERSTOOD?_" he hissed the last part, anger radiating from his very frame. Six heads nodded and a few mumblings of 'Sorry' came from the mechs. The seventh head stared in wonder and fear at Optimus, her dark blue armor reflecting the leader similar to a mirror.

While persons enjoy their bragging rights from wonderful and shiny objects, others get really fed up with it. A tension level will finally break and the boaster will get the snot beat out of them. This makes all forms of boasting cease, even if they literally have to get the snot beat out of them.

Optimus just handed everyone their butts on a silver platter.

* * *

Alpha DragonWulf, you got teh car right. A '71 Hot Rod Barracuda. The character however...Just wait and see. :3

Elita One, thank you for reviewing. x3 Much appreciated.

ANYHOW. I was gonna wait till I got Cuda's little profile thingy up on my website so ya'll could see what she looks like. But as fast as it's coming along, I'm gonna post this chapter up and try to get her profile up as soon as possible. :D YAY DRAWING.  
Sunny: Which you fail at. :D  
Sides is now my favorite twin. C:  
Sunny: Traitor. :C  
My Jazz muse saiz you all must wait for the main OC yet. :B He likes making people wait. Evil lettel buggar.


	7. Rip Roaring Good Time

Ratchet puffed air from his cooling system. They were all working as a semi-functional team before coming to New York. The Twins had even refrained from pranking and were relying on spoken words to make good fun. Prowl had yet to have a break down from Earth being illogical and Ironhide had not blown up anything major on said planet.

However, once this new femme was thrown into the mix, everything went to hell. The tottering balance that the team had was now flailing about wildly. The CMO eyed the little blue femme. Yes, add something that wasn't normal to their lives and any routine that once was promptly blew up like one of Wheeljack's inventions. And all this ruckus because of one little femme. Ratchet's optics snapped to Prowl as the tactician spoke, bringing the medic out of his musings.

"We must get back to the matters at hand. Cuda, who are Gust and Slate? And who is your commanding officer if those two are not?"

The femme glared at him, hatred that she was a pathetic femme being kept against her will by much stronger mechs. She did not respond. The lithe blue femme just sat and glared, daring one of them to come near.

"Cuda, I'm going to ask one more time. Who are Gust and Slate?"

More glaring. The femme dipped her head forward a bit, and continued to look up at the tactician. Her innocent appearance disappeared in that small movement, making her look villainous. A solid snort came from her. Prowl's doorwings twitched with irritation.

"Primus, it's like talking to a rock," Ironhide commented. Sunstreaker let out a sharp, humorless laugh.

"I think I liked it better when she was shouting curses at us," he said with bitter amusement. Ironhide and Sideswipe made grunts of agreement. The red twin lifted his arm and scratched behind his head.

"Geeze, Prime. You certainly know how to kill a party," he said offhandedly, sparing his leader a quick glance. Optimus shrugged a shoulder and shook his head.

"Cuda, please tell us who Gust and Slate are," he asked the stubborn femme. Cuda glared at him for a split second before returning to her glaring contest with Prowl. Ironhide let out a strained groan and put his face in a hand.

"This is impossible. Now we're gonna have ta go find tha' lill' orange 'bot me an' Bee found earlier," he huffed, shaking his head. Raising it, he shot a glare at Cuda until Ratchet interrupted him.

"As fun as this is, we are wasting time. Now, Cuda. If you don't start cooperating, I assure you I will _make_ you cooperate," the medic threatened, taking a step towards the femme and leering over her. Cuda snorted and challenged the medic by glaring at him. Sideswipe shivered.

"This ain't gonna end well," he mused. Ratchet hissed at him, locking optics with Cuda. Every hydraulic was primed, every gear poised, every bit and bolt of their bodies was ready to strike. A very low growl came from the femme as Ratchet twisted his body slightly, getting ready to pounce. An engine roaring echoed through the small clearing as all heads turned their attention to Ratchet in surprise.

"When'da learn to do that, Ratch?!" Ironhide demanded. The Twins gave their own opinions as Prowl began chastising the medic for making such a racket. The CMO growled at all of them.

"I didn't make that Primus awful sound, you glitch headed twits," he snarled, uncoiling himself. All listened as the engine roared again, though this time it sounded like another engine was thundering with the first one. The trees echoed the sound, making it impossible to locate where the engines were coming from. Ironhide growled as his cannons whirred to life, humming threateningly.

"Now what?" he grumbled as the others all assumed battle positions. Ratchet tensed back up as he too brought out his gun. His optics darted around, looking for the possible intruders. Decepticons or humans out for a joy ride, this was going to be ugly. The medic mentally snarled, facing the fact he would have to possibly hurt someone…Was that Cuda laughing? Snapping his optics on her, he dumbly noted that the little dark blue femme was indeed, laughing.

"What the slag is so funny?" he hissed, his gun out but his head turned on her. Taking one last wheezing laugh, Cuda looked as if she was in pain, a sarcastic smile on her face.

"I'm so dead," she said in a higher pitched voice than she had been using. Ratchet raised an optic brow as the others listened to the femme, keeping an eye on the surroundings. Ratchet lowered his gun as he turned to fully face Cuda.

"What do you mean?" he asked, irritated with her. Cuda only gave him a dreamy glance before looking off to her right. The melodious sounds of a Cybertronian transforming graced the Autobot's audio receivers along with several footfalls.

"Oh, Cuda. You have no idea how right you are," came a rage filled voice. The owner stepped out from behind a tree, one more behind the bot. The Autobots all tensed again, guns aimed at the new bots. The first bot gave a snort at the sight of the Autobots, his forest green armor glinting from sunlight dancing through the trees. The second bot had his arms crossed, his own red armor shining even brighter than Sunstreaker's polished hide. They both stood at the same height, and both were rather angry looking.

"We told you not to go and prod at the coppers. Did you listen? Noooo, had to be a know-it-all, smart ass femme and get caught!" the red 'bot hissed in a British accent. The green 'bot snarled and pointed a finger at Cuda.

"You're in for it once we get back!" his strong Latino accent slightly slurring the words together. Prowl made a coughing sound, finally catching the attention of the newcomers.

"What do you want, copper?" asked the red mech, snapping at Prowl. The tactician pulled his head back in disgust at the name.

"And what do you two slaggers want?!" Ironhide ground out, both cannons humming ominously and pointed at the two mechs. The two looked at Ironhide as if he were stupid.

"Cuda, what else? Eck, cannon wielding, trigger happy idiot of a mech, eh, Burst?" the red mech spat as if talking about Ironhide was going to contaminate him. The green bot, Burst, nodded while chuckling. The black weapons specialist growled dangerously.

"Cuda, get off yer sorry aft and come on! We're in enough trouble already 'cause of you!" he said, all seriousness returning to his voice. The blue femme winced and shrank back against the tree, trying to hide in its bark. She remained silent. Optimus stepped forward and brought himself to his full height again.

"Are you Gust and Slate? If so, we have a bone to pick with you," the red and blue leader said. The two mechs raised optic brows at the human expression. Burst laughed at him.

"Dude, you got it so wrong. Gust will eat our _afts_ if she finds out we're talkin' to Autobots. And man, that won't be pretty," he managed out between guffaws of laughter. The red 'bot next to him sniffed at his companion's behavior.

"You're so crude," he said with disdain.

"You know I'm right, Lec," Burst said, his amused tone haunted with fear.

"Oh and what are we going to do when Miss High-and-Mighty herself comes along?" Lec snapped back, glaring at Burst. Ironhide growled again, catching the two mech's attention.

"Sorry for bursting your bubble, but whatever this Gust can dish out I'm pretty sure I'll kick out trice-fold," he snarled. Bumblebee pushed on one of Ironhide's cannons, finally making his presence known since his argument with Cuda.

"You do realize they called this Gust a '_she'_?" he asked, his tone unreadable. Everyone halted. Burst and Lec shared a knowing look while Cuda shook her head. Suddenly, all three neutral bots froze. Cuda whimpered.

"Oh, Primus is she pissed," she said softly, staring into space. The Twins gave her a weird look.

"What?"

"Who?"

The Twins stammered out simultaneously. Lec gave an eerie laugh, causing everyone to look at him.

"Gust is coming, with Slate in tow," he said, his tone haunted. The Autobots lowered their weapons (except for Ironhide, whose weapons hummed again) and stared at the two mechs. The femme suddenly made a yelping sound and jumped up, causing everyone to stare at her. A loud pop was heard as she rotated her shoulders, her arms now at a strange angle, and wiggled off the cuffs. Another grinding pop echoed as she placed her arms back into their sockets.

"Well, as much fun as this has been, I'd rather not be around when Gusty comes about. It's been fun!" she said cheerily, waving. Turning around she started walking off until Sideswipe dashed out and caught her in a bear hug. Groaning her shoulders slumped as Sideswipe hissed out a bunch of curse words about femmes. The sound of a low idling engine bounced into the clearing, causing the Autobots to raise arms again. Lec and Burst shifted uncomfortably, and looked at Cuda and Sideswipe before looking at the Autobots.

The engine was more easily located than the others, not being as loud. An orange object weaved in and out of trees as another engine hummed behind it. Bumblebee groaned as Ironhide started growling in Cybertronian. The orange vehicle eased into the clearing, revealing its identity. A 2009 Ford Mustang with black racing stripes, obviously a hack from the internet, since its due date was half a year from now. It was the exact same car Bumblebee and Ironhide had found. The car who glided in beside it was a dark red 2009 Corvette, another hack. The Autobots had to question the sanity of these new 'bots. Why pick an alt mode that hadn't even come out to the public yet?

The musical chime of transformation rang out as the Mustang and Corvette transformed. The Corvette was tall and lanky, obviously a mech. He stood with the air of superiority, eyeing down the Autobots in front of him. He stood several feet higher than the orange 'bot.

"Well, well, well. Someone finally caught Cuda I see," he said rather snobbishly. It was obvious he looked down upon the Autobots and his fellow neutralists. An enraged snort came from the orange 'bot as a soft femme voice came from her.

"Shut up, Slate. You three, explain. _Now_," she said calmly. The Autobots compared this orange femme to Cuda, who was still trapped in Sideswipe's arms. The only thing similar to each other was their faces, which was soft and kind compared to a mech who was hard and weathered. While Cuda was lithe and presented an excellent example of a femme, this one was rather…Bulky. She looked more like a mech than a femme. Sure, her hips curved and her chassis was rounder and smoother than a mech, but her rough built frame shouted that she was a fighter and not for looks like little Cuda. The door wings on her back were tilted up, giving her irritated look all the more sharper appearance. The Corvette huffed.

"Geeze, Gust. Love you too," he said airily, eyeing down on her. The femme snapped her head at him, her glare colder than Cuda and Prowl put together. Slate inched back, wincing.

"I told you to shut up, Slate. It would be in your best interest to do so if you don't want cannon fire on your sorry good-for-nothing aft," she said again in that weird calm tone. Sideswipe all of the sudden giggled.

"She's like a femme version of ol' Prowler!"

"She is not!"

Prowl glared at the red twin as the rest of the Autobots made a silent agreement with Sideswipe. Gust snapped her attention to the red Twin before marching up in his face, and Cuda whom he still had a hold of.

"Let go of her or so help me Primus, I will shoot you dead where you stand," she said in a hurried pace. Sideswipe shivered and his arms fell to his sides as Cuda leaned up against him, trying to stay away from the orange femme as far as possible.

"And you, don't think I'm through with you. Burst told you not to go chasing the cops. _**I**__ told you not to go chasing cops._ And we are not through, get your butt over there," she hissed in Cuda's face, pointing at Slate's side. Everyone watched as Cuda hustled over by the red mech, followed by a hasty Burst and Lec. The orange femme glared at the pair before turning to the Autobots. Optimus stepped forward, his gun aimed at the ground.

"I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. We have come to gai.."

"I told you morons already that we weren't going to harm the humans. Shut up, turn around, go back to the miserable hole you came from and leave. Us. Alone," Gust cut him off, hissing the last part. The mechs all lowered their weapons. This femme had spunk that's for certain. Optimus gave a dissatisfied grunt.

"I can't trust you, and you're giving me even more reason not to," he said. Ratchet and Ironhide noticed his tone was rather clipped, showing the Autobot leader was losing whatever patience he had. The orange femme growled until Slate set a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry for my second-in-command's actions. She's a little hasty. Anyway, I must assure you we are here to live quietly and comfortably. We are neutralists, and we're not going to get involved with your silly little war games," he said, his commanding airy tone back. The femme beneath his hand shrugged him off and huffed.

"I'm giving you Autobots fair warning. Stay away from my Speed Bots and you won't get hurt," she hissed, door wings twitching with hidden rage. Ironhide growled and took a few steps to get in Gust's face.

"An' I'm givin' you fair warning, lill' missy. You harm one of the Autobots and you'll be getin' hurt," he snarled. Gust rose up, but didn't even reach past the dark mech's shoulders.

"You'll wish you hadn't."

A gunshot broke through the silence of the clearing.

* * *

AHAHAHA, wonderful cliff hangers. :D Ratchet muse is laughing. He helped with most of this. Yay me. :B  
Ratchet: I am genious.  
Cuda: You can't even spell geinous right!  
Gust: You can't spell it right either...  
Prowl: Thus, logically, neither of you are geniuses.  
Aaaah, thank you reviewers and anonymous readers. :D I do appreciate your support. However stalky the support maybe. Lolz.


	8. This Is Why We Are

Gust and Ironhide visibly tensed, the shot having flown past their heads and harmlessly hitting the trees. Gust twirled on her toes to look behind her while Ironhide merely looked over the orange femme. Sideswipe had his arm pointed up, courtesy of Burst, while Cuda was trying to push Lec and the red twin apart. All four were frozen, watching Gust and Ironhide.

"What kind of pathetic excuse for troops have you got?" Gust asked haughtily. The dark mech behind her snorted.

"The Twins can hardly be called pathetic," he ground out. The orange femme looked over her shoulder at him and narrowed her optics. Optimus huffed through his cooling vents, gaining attention again.

"Gust, you must give us a rather good reason to let you wander about the Northern United States alone, or the government is going to throw a hissy fit about national security. You have no idea the trouble they went to hiding what your group really is," he said solemnly. Gust's shoulders heaved, two small pieces of armor coming off of her shoulders rose and fell.

"Look, I could really care less about the damn government. You have no idea what kind of Hell and Pit-spawn we've been through," she stated, her calm tone returning. A snort was heard.

"And you don't think we haven't? We nearly got our afts handed to us by Megatron if it weren't for one of the natives," Ratchet snapped, his arms crossed. Gust threw back a shoulder and her head went up in the air as she spoke.

"Well, good for you. You had weapons at least," she replied as she walked back over to the rest of her group. Slate sulked along behind her, throwing glares at the Autobots as he passed them daring them to even laugh as the femme second-in-command had just taken over. Gust gave Sideswipe a shove, finally separating the red warrior and her red comrade.

"Why not come back to Nevada with us?" Prowl said softly, watching the orange femme's reaction. Ironhide snarled and shoved the tactician.

"What's wrong with you?" he hissed. The smaller mech sent him a glare.

"There's not much difference in Nevada's traffic and New York's, not only that, but there's more room out in Nevada," Prowl explained. He looked back at Gust, who was staring at him silently. The Autobots and Neutrals watched intently as Gust and Prowl had a silent battle, appearing to only watch the other and size them up. The femme gave a puff of air.

"We will go back and discus this with the rest of the group. I will come back later and tell you the verdict," she said softly before turning back to her comrades and making a shooing motion at them.

"While you're probably not going to like the verdict, we really don't give a damn," Slate sneered, eyeing down the fuming twins next to him. Optimus gave a pointed look at the twins before speaking.

"How soon can we expect you? Or do we have to send one of our own along to keep things in check?" he asked, his weapon gone. Gust looked at him thoughtfully as the chiming of several Cybertronians transforming echoed through the clearing.

"You can send one of your own. However, he has to be able to keep up. And, do _exactly_ as we say. Otherwise he's liable to get hurt. You've only seen the calm half of our group. If he fails to keep up, which he probably will, I will be back within the week to give you our answer," Gust said, leaning against a tree and looking rather smug. Sideswipe narrowed an optic as he spoke.

"What do you mean, fails to keep up?" he asked icily. Gust laughed, her voice light and airy like a pixie.

"Exactly what I mean," she said, her tone secretive. Prowl huffed and crossed his arms.

"It'll probably be one of the twins or Bumblebee, seeing how they both found…what did you call yourselves again?" he finished in a question, watching the orange femme. She laughed again before pointing at Bumblebee.

"He's got the best potential. Your 'Twins' may have caught Cuda by chance, but that yellow hunk over there was able to keep up when that Deceptipunk Barricade couldn't," she said in an amused tone. The Autobots turned to look at the scout. Bumblebee's door wings flicked as he looked at Optimus. The big 'bot nodded.

"Just be careful, Bumblebee," he said softly. The yellow scout nodded as Gust gave another soft laugh. She bowed her head similar to what Cuda had done before, only a smile was on her faceplates.

"Looks like you get to find out exactly _why_ we call ourselves Speed Bots. Let's move!"

Gust turned on her toes again and leapt forward, transforming over the other cars and sped out of the clearing. The others spun out, gathering speed and took off. Bumblebee jumped forward and transformed, not about to be left behind. The Autobots watched as the Speed Bots whooped and hollered out of the clearing, their engines roaring with power. Prowl turned to look at Optimus.

"You think it's a good idea to send him?"

"If anyone can sneak out of trouble, it'll be Bumblebee," Ironhide said, his arms clicking as his cannons disengaged. Ratchet huffed.

"Now what do we do?"

* * *

Bumblebee was terrified, for the first time in his time on Earth, of speeding. Sure, he had gone over the limit before, but he had set the pace he was comfortable with. The cars he was following had different ideas, however.

"Aw, come on, Bee! I know you can go faster! I saw you racin' those cops earlier today," Cuda said over the comm. link as her alt form slid up next to him. The yellow Camaro inched away from her.

"We both saw him go faster! I had to stop your sorry aft so we didn't pass him!" Burst's voice came over the comm., laughing. The green Mazda weaved between the dark red Corvette and the cherry red Elfin MS8 Streamliner. Lec growled over the comm. and dashed ahead of Burst, his cherry red finish making the Mazda seem dull. Slate laughed and dove back and to the side, passing Lec and Burst on the inside to pull up along the orange Mustang.

"Yes, but then I was setting the pace. Don't you think going 230 miles an hour is a wee bit dangerous?" asked Bumblebee. Gust's pixie laughter reached him.

"Sweetheart, we're not even going that fast. For us, this is a breeze."

The Mustang's eerily quiet engine roared to life as Gust kicked into another gear and lurched forward, her frame sitting closer to the ground. The mechs hollered and began to speed to catch up to her. Cuda stayed along Bumblebee's side, weaving in her lane softly.

"Oh, come on Bee! Let's show 'em how fast we can go!" she said innocently, prodding the scout. Bumblebee went a little faster, but not enough to catch up to the others. Cuda's engine purred as she got closer to the scout.

"What, are you afraid of being beat by a girl?"

"No!"

"Prove it," Cuda said, challenging him. The Camaro's engine roared as the Cybertronian half kicked in. The yellow form leaped forward, his speed enough to catch the others and then some. Cuda laughed and raced forward as well, her side exhausts kicking up flames as her engine roared with power. She easily caught up with him and passed him. The blue Barracuda slipped in and out until she was in the lead with the orange Mustang.

"That's cheating!" Burst's voice came over the comm. Cuda and Gust laughed while Bumblebee slowed a bit to avoid hitting Lec's bumper.

"How much further is your base from here?" Bumblebee asked.

"Oh just a little ways yet, don't want the humans knowing the cars they're racing are actually twenty foot tall robots," Lec's amused voice answered him. Confusion arose in the scout.

"Racing?"

"You have much to learn about us," Gust's voice came airily over the link. Bumblebee cruised behind Lec and Slate, the two having trouble getting past Burst and Cuda. The Gust driving ahead of them was not the same femme back at the field base in the clearing.

"Why aren't you angry anymore?"

"Hmm? Oh, that. I'm still a little peeved that Cuda got caught, and I had hoped me showing off in front of you had kept anything from happening while Burst went and collected her. However, I'm not angry. It's just something I've picked up to keep factions off our tails. Someone's gotta keep an eye on these guys, we're all pretty young," Gust responded to Bumblebee's question. She seemed almost hurt as she spoke about Cuda, but her tone was still light and airy as it had been.

"Yo, Gust. I'm sorry for running off like that, I was just kinda excited at seeing another 'bot and running from the cops…I got a little carried away," Cuda's sheepish voice fluttered. Gust chuckled.

"Just don't do it again," she laughed. The cars started slowing down, while Bumblebee's curiosity rose. They pulled over a dirt road and back behind some trees. The small group stopped and transformed.

"Welcome to our home," Slate said in a rather peaceful tone. Cuda bounced forward with Lec and Burst right behind her. Gust watched Bumblebee's face and giggled.

The scout had _never_ been expecting this.

* * *

D: Sorry for the lack of updates. My grandparents from Illinois had come out for the week. I wasn't allowed to touch my computer. -_fumes_-  
Jazz: So many ideas too! Just wait till they meet DJ!!1!one!!  
Ratchet: There's something wrong with you...  
Jazz: I'm dead?  
Ratchet: That could be it. -_snort_-  
Anyhow...I'll try to update as soon as possible again. I've been playing different scenarios in my head and all I have to do is type them out. Unfortunately, I'll be moving within this upcoming week, so it may be a bit before I can update again. :B Thanks for all the reviews!  
Bee: .-O moving...too...fast...  
Gust: She's making it seem like I've got bi-polar or some sort of personality disorder. :C


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